Well if you thought you would never see the day, you were wrong. The USPTO has released it's new fiscal fee schedule for 2005, effective from the 8th of December 2004. The new fee schedule sets the provisional patent application fee at an all time high of $100 for small entity status, or $200 plus a $50 processing fee for larger companies.
Such news comes as a dramatic setback to small entity, independent inventors thinking about filing their provisional patent applications. The fees have risen fairly drastically in recent years. Three years ago, a provisional application cost the small entity only $60, two years ago $75, last year, $85 and now an entire Franklin $100 bill.
Do not loose heart however, for the USPTO has reciprocated their significant fee increases with some very significant fee reductions, or at least so it seems.
Just last year the filing fee for a Utility patent was at $395 for small entity status independent inventors. Two years ago, it was $690, this year it is only $150. That's right $150, and that can be cut in half if you wish to file electronically. The current fee schedule provides that if your utility patent is filed online with the new electronic filing system, your price will be in total just $75. Yes, I said $75.
Now many inventors, myself included, truly appreciate sharing the patent filing process with our ancestors of invention. This can only be done to a certain degree in electronic filing. Electronic filing feels like electronic voting to most inventors, it gives them the "heebiie-geebies". This is simply because most of them are reasonably skilled in many electronic arts enough to know better than to trust them, especially with something as valuable as your vote, or your patent.
Obviously the USPTO finds it worth their time to try and convince some of these inventors by lowering their price for filing by half. I must admit, I have considered it. The $75 can be difficult to come by, let alone $150 for the independent inventor, and what are you to do? There is indeed a monetary push toward electronic filing, and it may be inevitable in some cases. Rest assured that the data is most likely transferred to the USPTO securely, and your patent integrity is sound.
It's a tough choice to make, but for now many inventors will continue to file the old fashioned way via good old paper. Definitely though, enjoy the $150 filing fee, and the $75 electronic filing fee if you wish. The fee reduction, especially for independent inventors is an excellent sign of a good year, that turned up last year. Now don't forget that there are search fees, examination fees, issuance fees, and a slew of others that are associated with the utility patent. But the slashed price makes these seem somewhat more affordable as well. I wish you success in all your patenting endeavors.
NOTE:
This truly only means the electronic Utility filing fee itself is cheaper than the Provisional filing fee. In regards to Stephen M. Nipper's "Invent Blog" and this post here:
http://nip.blogs.com/patent/2005/02/nonprovisional_.html
Stephen had been watching this come down the pike since last year, check out the url here:
http://nip.blogs.com/patent/legislationregulation/index.html
And he is absolutly right, the fees have simply been divided making this appear to be much cheaper than it is. With the above mentioned search fees ($250 for small entity) and examination fees ($100 for small entity), the independant inventor is still left with $500 for traditional method, and $425 for the electronic method, a net $30 increase over the fees from last year. How can you call it a consolidation act, when you break things up into smaller pieces? Beaurocrats.
You can find the advance notice fee alert from the USPTO here:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/hr4818/advancenotice.htm
